Top 10 Games for GiftedChildren
By Carol Bainbridge, About.com
Gifted children enjoy many of the same games, like Monopoly, that other children enjoy, but their love of learning and need for challenge means that they will enjoy games where they can learn, show off their knowledge, and be challenged. Whether your gifted child loves dinosaurs or space, language or logic, or anything in between, you can find the perfect game. Here are ten great games for gifted kids that the whole family can play.
1. Set: The Family Game of Visual Perception
Set is an all-time favorite of gifted kids. The object of the game is to find sets of three cards by following specific grouping rules. Each card has one of three shapes on it (a squiggle, a diamond, or an oval). The card can have one to three of those shapes on it and the shapes will be one of three colors displayed with one of three patterns. Gifted children are usually quick to pick out the sets from the twelve visible cards. It is a great game for the whole family.
2. Cranium Cadoo for Kids
This board game is a 2001 Parents' Choice Gold Award Winner, and it's no wonder it received that award. It combines elements of some traditional favorite games like Charades, Name-That-Tune, and Trivial Pursuit, and adds elements of drawing and sculpting too! Players draw cards which tell them what task they must complete before the musical timer goes off. The game is fun for the entire family, from the youngest to the oldest. Any number of players can join the fun starting with at least two.
3. Apples to Apples
Another multi-award winning game: Family Fun Toy of the Year Award and Mensa Select Award, among others. This game is for four to ten players, with a recommended age of 12 and up. Cards have either a noun or an adjective and players must match one of each card. A judge then decides on the "best" match, but throughout the game, players take turns being the judge! Some younger gifted children could play the game, but there is also a children's version. It's fun for the whole family!
4. Mad Gab Game
Mad Gab is a hilarious language game based on sounds and pauses in speech. Players have to read a phrase from a card and their opponent must guess what the "real" phrase is. While the sounds are basically the same in each phrase, the sounds are broken up with pauses in between different sounds! "Dew Wino Hue," for example, is actually "Do I know you?" The game is for 2 or more players aged ten to adult. Gifted children who enjoy language love this game.
5. Spy Alley Board Game
What do you get when you cross Monopoly with Clue? The game Spy Alley! Players in this game are assigned secret spy identities, which they try to protect and which other players try to guess. The goal of the game is to complete your mission, which includes collecting various items such as a password and a disguise, and then landing on your country's embassy. It's a game the whole family can play and enjoy.
6. DaVinci's Challenge Game
This is a game of strategy and ancient symbols. The game board is a pattern known as the Flower of Life, a pattern made of ovals and triangles. A player's goal is to create specific symbols by placing oval or triangle pieces on the corresponding shapes on the board, while preventing his or her opponent from creating symbols. The whole family will enjoy this challenging game, although if there are more than two players, they will have to play as teams. The game is for ages seven to adult.
7. The Game of Coda
Gifted kids who love codes (and which ones don't?) will love this game. The rules are simple, but the game is challenging. Each of two to four players has a secret sequence of numbers (a code), which the other players must figure out. Players try to break their opponent's code by guessing numbers in their opponent's code. A correct guess reveals an opponent's number, while an incorrect guess reveal one of the player's numbers! The goal is to be the player whose code has not been "cracked."
8. Cogno: The Alien Adventure Game
Players take on the identity of an alien who must travel through the galaxy which contains, among other things, black holes and mystery planets. To move around the board, players must answer questions about how the universe works. The game doesn't provide simple answers to those questions, but full explanations in an accompanying book. What space-loving gifted child wouldn't love this game? The whole family can play this game, which is for ages seven to adult.
9. Dinosaurs & Things Board Game
This sturdy board game is perfect for dinosaur lovers. Players must make their way through the various eras, like the Jurassic, collecting dinosaur cutouts as they go. The cutouts that are placed like puzzle pieces over a picture of the dinosaur's skeleton. Players make their way around the board by answering questions about dinosaurs. However, multi-level play makes the game fun and challenging for dinosaur lovers of all ages. It's for two to four players, ages 8 to adult.
10. Risk Godstorm Game
This strategy game is a twist on the classic Risk game. In this version, players enter the ancient world of mythology and attempt to control five ancient cultures: Greek, Celtic, Babylonian, Norse and Egyptian. Gods can be summoned and battles can be fought in the underworld. For those who love mythology and strategy games, this game is ideal. The recommended ages are twelve and up, so families with older children will enjoy playing this game together.